The central government on Friday extended the deadline to submit the preliminary bids to buy Shipping Corp of India to 1 March. In December, 2020, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) had invited expressions of interest for strategic disinvestment of its entire stake of 63.75 per cent in Shipping Corp of India, along with the transfer of management. The last date for submission was scheduled on 13 February.
“Last date and time (“EOI Due Date”) for EOI’s submission will be on 1 March till 5 pm,” DIPAM said in a statement. If EOI is submitted via e-mail then the due date for hard copy submission will be till 15 March, the statement added.
DIPAM also clarified computation of Net Worth and EBDITA for “the Interested Party shall be as on 31st December 2019 or thereafter.”
The Cabinet had in November last year gave in-principle approval for strategic divestment of Shipping Corp and Container Corp of India Ltd. However, the plans were delayed due to the pandemic.
While presenting Budget 2021, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, “A number of transactions namely Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd, Air India, Shipping Corp of India, Container Corp of India, IDBI Bank, BEML Ltd, Pawan Hans, Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd among others would be completed in 2021-22”.
The company reported a 55.4% year-on-year decline in consolidated profit to ₹131.57 crore for the quarter ended 31 December, 2020. It was ₹295.24 crore during the corresponding quarter last year. The consolidated income of the company dropped to ₹872.82 crore in the quarter under review from ₹1,275.48 crore earlier.
For 2021-22, the government has set a disinvestment target of ₹1.75 lakh crore, over five times what it is aiming to raise in the current financial year. In the revised estimates, the target has been set at ₹32,000 crore for current fiscal.